Total War: Warhammer’s magic is a storm of unpredictability. Prepare for things to go very wrong…

In Total War: Warhammer, there will be plenty of things that are easy to read thanks to stats and figures. However, in a fantasy universe there are elements that are less predictable. Magic is a key element in battle, but unlike swords and cannons, the result of casting them is less predictable.

Design director Rich Aldridge spoke about magic to our Phil at EGX earlier this week. “Some things are random. The Curse of the Bad Moon spell is a good example. It’s a vortex spell, and all vortex spells have random movement on them. So when you cast that, it could backfire and go back to your caster and damage him,” he explained. “It could go over your friendly troops, as much as the enemy troops, so there is some random element there.”

The unpredictable nature of magic was a very deliberate choice for Creative Assembly, since it was required by lore, but also could ruin the delicate RTS balance they have honed over years of Total War games. “Magick’s an important part of the Warhammer world, but it’s something that could be perceived to be unbalanced and overpowered,” said Aldridge. “There’s also a finite amount of magic available each battle to not let it become the be-all-and-end-all of that battle.”